Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Hezbollah targets schools and hospitals for destruction

Israel has taken the unusual step of revealing its intel showing Hezbollah's military plans. Naturally, Hezbollah intends that any future war with Israel will inflict maximum casualties on civilians in Lebanon. In the Wall Street Journal, Stephen P. Cohen writes:

These maps show that Hezbollah's bases are located in villages in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border, in very close proximity to schools and hospitals. Its weapons are aimed at Israeli cities and civilian targets. If these missiles were to be launched, Israel would be required to defend its population by destroying the missile emplacements and depots. . . . .

The Hezbollah plan of deployment means that any Israeli military response to a massive missile attack on its civilian population will involve civilian casualties in Lebanon. Because of its deliberate placement of these weapons, Hezbollah is condemning Shiite villages to destruction. [Emph. added]

You may remember that Israel invaded invaded Lebanon four years ago in an ill-managed attack on Hezbollah in response to Hezballah's kidnapping of two Israelis. That war was ended by United Nations resolution 1701 which "imposed a blockade on weapons intended for Hezbollah and banned it from operating near the Israeli border." A UN "peacekeeping" force of 11,000 troops was sent to enforce the resolution. Now, with Israel's release of its intelligence, the UN's failure to enforce its resolution will be exposed.